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~ Calvin, Hobbes & Broomhilda ~



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Hilda, Hobbes & Calvin
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I name all my rehabs, and in the case of Calvin, Hobbes and Broomhilda, their names were chosen for their personalities. Hilda was named for the comic strip witch Broomhilda because she was a bit rolly polly and let's say she was not exactly a pretty raccoon (As a matter of fact, IF a raccoon could be ugly, she was!). Calvin and Hobbes were named after the comic strip of the same name. Calvin was a bit of a terror, and I have the scars from his claws to prove it. But this story is mostly about little Hobbes.

The three of them were found on a dock next to a river in November of 1997. They were observed for over a day by someone who hoped the mother would come back. She never did (maybe a gator got her). When rescue was finally called in, Hobbes got so scared he fell into the river and had to be fished out. He got a little stomach cold as a result and I had to give him Pepto Bismal. He did not like it all! At first Hobbes would just spit out the pink Pepto Bismal. He soon learned that just resulted in my giving him another dose and stroking his throat to make him swallow. So he would pretend to swallow it until I put him down, then he would shake his head like crazy and the stuff would go all over the place! I was cleaning pink spots off the walls for days!

Feeding Bowl - click for full size picture
"Hey, save some food for the little guy!"

Hobbes was the tiniest of the three and very timid, but also very sweet. His brother Calvin was the complete opposite and was always getting into trouble! And Hilda would follow behind and copy whatever Calvin did. But because Hobbes was the runt and was always being picked on by Calvin, Hobbes got a little extra special treatment from me. I guess I have a soft spot for the underdog.

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Hobbes first time in a tree

Since they were autumn babies, the raccoons didn't get to experience tree climbing as early as I usually start. But when the time came, I made sure Hobbes was the first one of them to get to climb a tree. It was a little tree and he was kind of scared at first. But I reassured him and soon he was happily chewing away on the branches. I don't know if Hobbes was able to tell Calvin and Hilda what he had just done, but he sure seemed like one proud little raccoon when I put him back in with them. It was quite amusing to watch them sniff him trying to figure out where he had been. With this new found confidence, Hobbes even started standing up to his brother Calvin, as if to say "I'm not afraid of a tree and I'm not afraid of you."

Hobbes in tree - click for full size picture
Hobbes and the advantages of being the runt

Eventually, they all got to climb trees and wander in the woods and do all sorts of raccoon things before they were released back into the wild. But for little Hobbes, being first to climb a tree made a real big difference.






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